About Reserve Bank presidents
The president of the Atlanta Fed serves as the chief executive officer and is responsible for all Bank activities including monetary policy, bank supervision and regulation, and payments services and technology. In addition, the president serves on the Federal Open Market Committee
, the Federal Reserve's chief monetary policy-making body.
The Federal Reserve Act details the process for selecting a Reserve Bank president. Class B and C members of a Reserve Bank's board of directors (the nonbanker directors) appoint presidents, who then must be approved by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
All Bank presidents serve five-year terms that expire at the end of February in years ending with 1 or 6 (2026, 2031, and so forth). In intervening years, presidents are appointed to fill the remainder of a current term.
Reserve Bank presidents are subject to mandatory retirement at age 65. However, presidents initially appointed after age 55 can, at the option of the board of directors, be permitted to serve until attaining ten years of service in office or until age 75, whichever comes first.
SearchesWhen a president approaches mandatory retirement or announces his or her intent to leave office, the Reserve Bank's board of directors immediately forms a search committee to find a successor. In conjunction with an executive search firm, the search committee works to identify broad, diverse, and highly qualified candidates from across the country and both inside and outside the Federal Reserve System.
The ideal candidate is someone who can guide the focus of the Bank's economic research function, gather economic intelligence for use in policy deliberations, communicate effectively to the public about monetary policy, provide insights to Federal Open Market Committee policy discussions, ensure that the Bank maintains a strong supervision and regulation function, make important personal contributions to Federal Reserve System initiatives, and be an effective chief executive officer for the Bank.
The Bank and search committee seek and encourage public input and feedback throughout the process. We aim to be as open and transparent about the search process as possible while affording candidates the ability to apply confidentially.
After a thorough and extensive search process, the Bank's class B and C directors formally appoint a finalist candidate, whom the Board of Governors then interviews and approves.
The Atlanta Fed's most recent presidential search began in 2016 and culminated in 2017 with the appointment of Raphael W. Bostic as the Bank's 15th president and chief executive officer. You can find more information about our most recent presidential search here: Atlanta Fed Presidential Search.
For a full list of Federal Reserve Bank presidents, visit the Federal Reserve Banks page on the Board of Governors website.
Reappointments
A president of a Reserve Bank may be reappointed after serving a full term or an incomplete term.
When considering a presidential reappointment, the Class B and C directors of each Reserve Bank assess a number of factors including but not limited to the president's performance on policy implementation, execution of strategic vision, civic and community engagement, System contributions, and the development of diverse leadership within the organization. The directors also gather internal and external feedback. Their assessment is further informed by annual discussions between the Reserve Bank's chair and deputy chair and the Board of Governors' Committee on Federal Reserve Bank Affairs.
Reappointments are subject to approval by the Board of Governors, which reviews the Reserve Bank directors' assessment of their president's performance and any additional perspectives from members of the Board of Governors.
Federal Reserve System presidents and first vice presidents were most recently reappointed on March 1, 2021. You can find the Board of Governors' press release announcing the reappointments on the Board of Governors' website. (Select the Other Announcements check box on the Press Releases page to filter results related to reappointments.)